Balancing device for flying-machines and the like.



N. B. CONVERSE. BALANCING DEVICE FOR FLYING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. 7 APPLICATION FILED APLZT. 19H. RENEWED MAR- 30. I91!- 1,246,235 r 4 SHEETS-SHEET I WITNESSES INVEN'I OR O D I W. 4. (M0,

A'ITORNBY Pafimted Nov. 13, 1917.

N. B. CONVERSE.

BALANCING DEVICE FOR FLYING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLICAHON mzu APR. 27. I911. RENEWED MAR. 20. I911.

1 246,235. Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

4 SHEETS-401E 2| N. B. CONVERSE.

BALANCING DEVICE FOR FLYING MACHINES AND THE LIKE APPLICAHON FILED APR. 21. I91]. RENEWED NAR- Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

4 SHEETS-MEET INVBNTOR I(. AM

N. B. CONVERSE. BALANCING DEVICE FOR FLYING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. 1,246,235.

APPLICATION FILED APR-27.1911. RENEWED MAR.301l9IT- Patented Nov. 15, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

NVENTOR WITNESSES STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. miw'ron B. convrmsn, or FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro HIMSELF AS TRUSTEE;

BALANCING DEVICE FOR FLYING-MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of L crsfatent.

Application fil ed April 27,-19l1, Serial No. 623,606. Renewed March.30, 1917. Serial No. 153,782.

To all whom it may concern Beltknowvirtlmtl, Nmvron B. CoNvEnsu,

; a citizen of the United States, residing at Fresno, in the county of Frcsnoand State of California, ha ve. invented new and useful linprovements in Balancing Devices for FlyingrMachines and the like, of which the vfollowing is a specification. The present: invention relates to improveineutsinfiying machines, and the object of the invention is to provide means tor automatically balancing the machine at right angles tothe lines of force, whether of gravity 'alone or the resultant of gravity an'd"centrifugal force as when changing the direction of the 'nachine. A further object of the invention is to provide means for balancing the flying machine, which does not have any effect in changing the direction of said machine. latheaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 a broken perspective..view of my improved flying machine, certain parts being v f omitted; Fig.2 is asectional detail. view of 25 an electrical connection; Fig.3 is a plan view of the electromagnetic mechanism and the shafts operated thereby, Fig. a is a broken endview of the sa1'uc, certain parts being shown in vertical section; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the wind motors; Fig. 6 is :1 broken end view of. the same; Fig. .7 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections; Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 8-8'ot' Fig. 3; Fig; 9 is a 85 broken side view of the parts shown in Fig.

8 Fig. 10 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 10-40-01. Fig. Fig. 11 is a plan view of aportionot .ig. "8; Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section. of the electro-niagnetic mechanism; Fig. 13 is a cross section on the line13-13 of Fig. 12. Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, 1 indicates .the frame. of a flying machine,

which, for the purpose of illustration, is here shown of. the biplane type, although my invention is by no means limited thereto; Ithas upper andlmver planes elevator 4, .a rear tail piece and a rear direction rudder ti. The mechanism for propellingthe machine omitted; as being ofthe common and well known construction, and "not a partol' the present inven- "tion, which relates only to the means for maintaining stability.

At a convenient location centrally of the machine, is located a frame comprising a 52, 3, a front longitudinal. bar 10 and front and rear cross bars 11, 12, in theends of which are mounted longitudinal shafts 13 carrying helical rotary wind motors 14, which, in the motion of the flying machine against the air, are caused to revolve, thus furnishing the necessary power to operate the mechanism hereinafter described. The l'ielices of these wind motors are respect vely right and left hand ed, so thatthey turn in opposite directions or toward one another. I have herein. shown said power as transmitted from said wind motors by means of pulleys 17 and belts 18, although non-slipping transmission apparatus may be used. in place thereof. Said belts, one of which is crossed, pass around pulleys 20 on the shaft 21 of a direct-currentgenerator 22 of low voltage and are separated. by adisk 23. Thus an electric current is'generated by the rotationcf said wind wheels. On the shaft of the generator is mounted agear wheel 25 which 1 eshes with intermediate gear wheels '26 on stud shafts 27 on a suitable support 28 con nected With the generator frame, said intermediate gear wheels, meshing. with gear wheels 29 secured by arms 30 to the backs of outer iaslngs 31 of electromagnetic clutches Each casing ispro-vided wlth a hub 33 and an outer cylintflrical wall 34,

between which wound insulated wire 35 forming an electromagnetic clutch. Said casing is driven tightly on; to ahollow shaft 36 which revolvesin the same direction as the generator in ball bezu'ingsin a cylindrical box 37 suitably supported upon a base plate 38. Vl'ithiusaid hollow shaft lead two insulated wires 4-0, which, in order to connect to the opposite ends of the energiz ing coil, are passed through holes 41 in the hollow shaft and hub. The other ends of said .wires are connected to; collector rings 12, insulated from one another shown at 43, with which collector ringscontaet spring supported brushes it contained in metal sockets H-l supported upon fiber blocks 45 (see Fig. 2) and connected to wires 63 leading from opposite poles of the generator, one of said wires leading throl'lgh contacts hereinafter described.

The armature 46 of the electrmnagnet is slid-ably keyed upon an end of a shaft 417 hereii'iai'ter described, and is i'iormally pressed from said electromagnet by a coiled spring48 within a chamber' formed on said armature, one end of said co-led spring Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

abutting against the wall 50 of said shamher and the other end abutting against a flange 51 formed on ah abutment 52 which 1n the end of said shaft 47.. Said abutment is formed on the side opposite to' said guide pieee'with a recess or chamber 55, in the bottom of which is a hard steel disk 56 which is ,p ssed by said spring against a steel ball 57? which is thus in turn pressed against the end of the hollow shaft 36. When the electro-magnet is energized, the attraction is sufficient to overcome the pressure of the spring and draw the armature up to the face of said electro-magnet. It is however desirable to prevent actual contact with said magnet when energized, in order to avoid ny danger of the armature being held by residual magnetism, after it has been de inergiz'ed, and, therefore, an air ga is always provided, even in the attract position of said armature, between said. armature and said ma net, this being accomplished by means 0 a ring 59 of fiber or other non-magnetic material, which offers good frictional resistance, one end of said ring abutting against a circular shoulder 60 formed upon said wall 34 of the electromagnet and the other terminal portion 61 of the ring flaring outwardly in conical formto receive, an outwardly flaring conical flange 62 of the armature. A second important reason why an air is left between the electro-magnet an t e armature in the attracted position of the lattur is because friction between the armature and the non-magnetic ring is better than between the armature and the smooth metal- 11c face of the magnet, and in order to insure that rotation is imparted to the arma-I ture-as quickly as possible after it is attracted. I

By this means, as soon as the circuit is closed between each electro-magnet and the generator, rotation is imparted to the armature and to the shaft 47. Said shaft re volves in ball bearings 64 within boxes 65 and carries between said boxes a flanged drum (56.. Each drum has a longitudinal opening through which an end of a tape 67 is passed to the inside of the drum and around the shaft 47, being then sewed to the remainder of the tape. It will thus be seen that when said electro-magnet is energized, the shaft 47 rotates to wind up the tape. The mechanism connected with said tape will be hereinafter explained, but it may be here observed that said mechanism is such that when the magnetis dei nergizedand the armature is released, the tape is unwound from the shaft, and therefore the' shaft is rotated in the opposite direction to that of the electro-magnet. Each shaft 47 has secured on its end a worm 68, which portion of meshes with a worm wheel 69 on a shaft 70 oscillating in suitable bearings, one of saidbearin by the win mg and unwinding of said tape the shaft 70 is given a movement of oscillation the amplitude of which, however, is not more than half a revolution. In bearings 72 extending from said post can slide vertically'a slide bar 73. The shaft 70 carries on its end between said post and slide bar a cam 74, which oscillates in contact with two rollers 75 carried by said slide bar.

l o said slide bar 73 are secured arms 76 s being in a post 71. Therefore which carry an insulating box 80, in which 1S clamped a steel contact pin 81, the lower which is reduced in diameter, insulating material 82,

and is covered with and the-lower end of which is formed with a socket to receive a platinum pin-83. Said pins 81, operated by their respective shafts extend downward through s eeves 1 84 and v the upper ends of conduits 85, said sleeves being insulated from said conduits, as shown at 86. Said conduits 85 are connected at their lower ends by a curved mercury conduit 87, and above their lower ends by a horizontal oil conduit 88. In the lower tube 87 is contained-mercury, the level of which is, in the normal position of the flying machine, in both tubes slightly above the point where the curved lower conduit 87 depends from the upper vertical conduits 85, sai lowerconduit being of slightly reduces diameter. In the normal position of the ging machine, the lower endsof said pins epend so as to be arece tacle 89 connected to said horizontal tub s 88 are filled with oil. Said receptacle 89 is provided at the top with a diphragm 9O apertured, as shown at 91, of any suitable material. It is necessary that the oil should fill the upper tube 88 at least as high as the upper side of said tube, so as to completely fill said tube 88 in any position of the flying machine.

just out of contact with saldmercury. The upper horizontal .tube 88, the vertical tubes 85 and This oil should be sufliciently light to permit globules of mercury, which enter the same, to collect and flow back into the lower tube and not be held separate. These mercury globules are vcon: densed from the from the v-oltaic are produced at the electric contacts. I have found the apparatus to work successfully with kerosene oil. Water with kerosene floating on the top is also desirable, for the reason that it prevents the carbonization of the kerosene by the voltaic are, and the oil floating on the top of the water prevents the entrance of air into said water, which would have a tendency to oxidize the mercury in the tubeat the time that an arc was formed.

The ends of the tapes are connected to pulleys 103, and around each pulley lower a cord 104 each end p'f which is connected around puheys 108- so disp'osed upon the,

to the middle of a co1'd'105, the ends of.

connected to the rear "lower ailerons 106, the

edges of upper tLll front edges ofgw ichiare'secural 'to the frame of the flying nhichine, one endpf eiieh card 104 bein g 'thus' qoimected to an 'ed' *e' of a lower uilei on :it onesi'dego'f the," yin nmchine and the ether. end being iebnnce'tei to -an edge ofan upper ziileron at the other the cord 105 being uniuvuhleunion i thefieb" iissunie side' of the machine-.1 S'ziid cords 104 pass fmnie 0f the flying mn ehine, thait" when the lo we r aileren', co meeted to one end is depressed, the upper ell'eron, eqnnected to; the

uther end, is simultaneously raised-,(nnd c'ona verselyn with Tthenegative- .pole' of; the I g'eneretp'r j by ii jwireil00, while esichj'of thetyvo'p ns is connectediby-a Wire .110 to the coilecter ring."-

i' on, theiszi me side, while 'the other coll'ectdr ring is connected byjnqvire 111 to the 'p'osi the pole; i

The ov z erution of the apparatus is asfbllows:-

hen the flying iha'ehine is treyeh u ing in a strai lit line npmien even keel thef lower endso the phttinmnpins 83 'a 1 e .ji1' t" dut-nffcontnc't withv the mercury in th'e lpw'el tube 87. But should the flying mnchin'i from any cause tip to one side, Whileingev straight ahead flight, then the Contact is. made on that. side between. the mercury nmjl}- i the Iatinnnjpoint.

T "e circuit 1s theii elosed through; the. I clutch onthe side-towhieh'theship has I}; tilted-downn'hi'd"and-energizes said 'i'cl'jitc i whiehgimmedihtely"setsinmdtidntheishiift j and .winds uptthe ta 'e. -;The winding li' of,

the tape'on that ejdraii's in the :p'u Icy 103 (in-that side, whihj-"depresses'thelewehnileronnon thn. t-. side nndamuisesthe lppen nil'eronnn the oppositeside .of the iiflyi'ng mnehineh Tthe'efifect of theee'chzln es inthes POSltlOHS of the allefi qns Is, to In o; itce a re-.

varsnl of'lthe tilting-0f the fiying maehiiie. I If the eonstructl'on'were suchth'atthe 5 offringenore'iiesistnnee;than befoieto thji fqrmud motion of- ,thefiyi ng machine iii], passing th-l'ough the hit, thed i recthinjaf the; nm'qhine would ebeiehanged hy said net-p causing-the shi" to thin toward the side's.

' niizon W 8S tiltedhbut-of: 1.

Providing two sit-g ie-o 'closure of theelectriecii'puitf en either-side. changed thepositibnfdfm single anie 'onon,

nneside-only of the machine; the e'ffeiit; f

bums on oppnsifte sidesflo the ship,xti'lfted iii p] mos'li'e ad i motions b nnemndtliyai;

iiwl eei w t- ,thetendenciestg.change thej dn ectmn T at? the ship hythe t-WO HIIETOIIS neutrzih'ze failsto descend in the tube; because, as soon as the circuit is broken, the drum ceases to wind up the tape and the air pressure on the aileron causes the tape to be unuound from the drum, and thus causes the pin to descend into contact with the mercury. Thus the machine is restored to a horizontal positionby a step by step movement, the aileron arriving, at a neutral or normal position at the same time as, or just before, the flying machine comes to an even keel, thus avoidin% an overbalance.

suitably conforming the cam surface of t e cam'74 I am enabled to insure that the elevation of the pin above its normal position shall bear always a definite relation to the angle of elevation of the aileron, that relation being the one best adapted to re- Store the flying machine to an even keel and Without any swinging in the opposite direc tion therefrom.

It will be observed that the curved conduit 87 is formed with a cusp 120 in the center. If there were no friction between the mercury and the walls of the conduit, the mercury would maintain absolutely the same level, notwithstanding the motion of the conduit. .But, owing to the friction with said walls, the motion of the conduit imparts motion to a certain degree to the mor cury, which would tend to produce oscillation of the mercury in the conduit due to its high specific gravity. This tendency is pre- 5 vented by the cusp 120, which checks the momentum of one-half of the mercury by impact thereagainst and the other half bv reslstance'oflered by the vacuum produced.

The operation of the device when the flying machine is changing its direction is precisely the same as when flying straight ahead, since the tendency of the mercury to move to the outer side due to centrifugal force has the effect of making a contact on said outer side, and thereby raises thejoutside of the machine an amount, which is proper for the banking of the air under the main planes to prevent skidding.

It is evident that the above device is adapted to restore a flying machineto a pos tion in which itstransverse direction is at',right angles to the lines of force acting upon said flyin machine, that-is, at right anglesto the orce of ravity only when the flying machine is going straight ahead, and at right angles to the resultant of the forces of gravity and centrifugal force when the flying machine is changing its direction.

I claim:

1.- In a-flying machine, 'the combination of means for changing the relative levels of opposite parts of the machine, electromagnetic means for controlling said changing means, a contact pin, a. vessel containing a conducting fluid with which said pin can be brought into contact by a difl'erence in level of opposite parts of the ship, and means, actuated in unison with said changing means, for withdrawin said pin out of contact with said liquid, su stantially as described.

2. In a flying machine, means for correcting the level of the machine, an element, as a rotating shaft, for applying a force Which is substantially constant in magnitude and instantaneously applicable at all times, electro-magnetic means for applying such a force to the correcting means to render it operative, and an electric circuit comprising a vessel containing mercury and an upwardly extending conducting pin above, and in close proximity to, the surface of the mercury at one side, and means whereby the pin is raised from the mercury by the movement of the correcting means. y

3. In a flying machine, means for correcting the level of the machine, an element, s a rotating shaft, for applying a force which is substantially constant in magnitude and instantaneously applicable at all times, electro-magnetic means for applying such a force to the correcting means to render it operative, an electric circuit comprisin a vessel containing mercury and an upwar dly extending conducting pin above, and in close proximity to the surface of the mercury at one side, and means whereby the pin is raised from the mercury by the movement of the correcting means, and theother side is adapted to be moved away from the first by the movement of the aileron, and substantially frictionless dampening means to dampen the movement of the firsbnained side.

4. In a flying machine, means for correcting the level of the machine, an element, as a rotating shaft, for applying a force which is substantially constant in magnitude and instantaneously applicable at all times, elec- .tro-magnetic means for applying such a orce to the correcting means to render it operative, and an electric circuit having a break, of which one side is mercury contained in a tube, and the other side is an upwardly extending conductin end of said tube, and means .w ereby said pin is moved away from the mercury by the movement of the correcting means.

pin in an- 5. In a flying maehine,-means for correctis substantially constant in magnitude and to thocorrecting means to render it aileron,

ducting pin in an end of said tube, and means whereby said pin is moved away from the mercury by the movement of the correctmg means. I

6. Ina flying machine, means for correcting the level of the machine, an element, as a rotating shaft, for applying a force which is substantially constant in magnitude and instantaneously applicable at all times, electromagnetic means for applying such a force to the correcting means to render it operative, and an electric circuit having a break, of which one side is mercury contained-in a tube, and the other side is "a contact for contacting with the mercury, and means whereby said contact is moved away from the mercury by the movement of the said means including a cam for regulatieiliig the rate at which the contact is mov i a 7. In a flying machine, two means for correcting the level of the machine in opposite directions respectively, an element,'as a rotating shaft, for applying a force which is substantially constant in magnitude and f instantaneously applicable at all times, two

electromagnetic means-for applying such force to the respective correcting means to render it operative,a tube raised at its ends, mercury in the tube, conductorsdependin in the ends of the tube into proximlty wit the mercury, one side of the circuit of each electro-magnetic means being connected to the mercury and the other sides being connected to the respective conductors, and a cam operable by the movement of each correcting means for moving away from the mercury/the conductor which contacts therewi h to close the circuit through the corresponding electro-imagnetic means.

i 8. In a flying machine, two'means for correcting the level of the machinein opposite directions respectively, an element, as a ro-.

tating shaft, for applying a force which is substantially constant in magnitude and instantaneously applicable at all times, two electro-magnetic means for applying such force to the respective correcting means to render it operative, a tube raised at its ends, mercury in the tube, conductorsdependi ng in the ends of the tube into proximlty wit the mercury, a tube connecting said ends, in-

sulating liquid in said tube, one sideof the circuit of each electro-magnetic means being connected to the mercury and the other sides being connected to the respective conductors, and a cam operable by the movement-of each correcting means for movin away from the 4 into contact by a difi'erence in level of opposite parts of the machine,and means, actuated in unison with said changing means, for withdrawing said pin out of contact with said liquid, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NEWTON B. CONVERSE.

Witnesses: I FRANCIS M. Wmcn'r,

D. B. Rronanns. 

